Toy vehicle



April '14, 1925. 1,533,161

' W. F. DATHAN re: VEHICLE Filed June 4, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 @bbou mp1 April 14, 1925.

W. F. DATHAN TOY VEHI CLE Flied June 4. 1924 2 Sheot s-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 14, 1925.

WILLIAM F. IiA'r HnN, 0F GLENCOE, ILLINOIS,

ear VEHICLE.

Application fi'i'ea rune 4, 1924-. scrim No. 717,836.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, lVILLIi-XM F.-D ATHLDI, a citizen of the United Sateen-ending at Glenlcoe, in the county ofCoo'k and State of Illinois, have invented a certain; new and useful Improvement in Toy Vehicles, of which the folloiving' a specification.

'My invention relates to toy vehicles of the wheeled type that are ada 'ated to be propelled either by direct contactof the occupants feet with the grounder by suitable; gearing such, for exa i'npl'e, as a chain and sprocket mechanism, and my object is .to improve generally the construction of such vehicles to render them particular-1y attractive to children and to enhance their strength and durability.

The vehicle of my invention consists es-1 sentially of a body and supporting wheels, one of which latter is angularly movable with respect to the direction of trawl of the vehicle for steering purposes, and it is" my more specific object to pr-p'vide an improved connection between the" body and the steering wheel whereby the body, which is adapted to be shaped to resemble an ob ject such as ahorse', dog or other animal, may be formed of relatively thin, vertically disposed material and attached, regardless of its shape, to the steering wheel by the same connecting means. p

Also it is my object toprovi'de' a simple, cheap and eiiicient means of bracing the body and in instances where the propelling means consists of chain and sprocket mechanism, of tightening the chain of such mechanism.

lVith the foregoing and, other objects in View, my invention consists in the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the acc'ompanying drawings and defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings, wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts in thedifferent views Figure 1 is a side elevation of a toy vehicle embodying the novel and essential features of my invention;

' Figure 2, a front elevation;

Figure 3, a rear elevation;

Figure 4C, a detail perspective showing the parts of the connecting means between the body and the steering wheel separated; and

Figure 5, a detail view illustrating the construction of the coi'mectiag means be tween the body and the steering wheel which adapts the connection for attachment to bodies of different shapes.

Referring to the drawings in detail, 10 designates the body of my improved rehicle, 11 the front steering wheel thereof and 12, 12 the rear supporting wheels.-

The body 10 is out from a board or other piece of material to resemble in oiitliiie an object such as a horse, dog or other animal,- and at suitable points upon opposite sides of the same are secured the upper end portions of suitably brace'd downwardly and outwardly extending arms 1 3, 13 that are connected in any suitable manner at their lower ends to bearing housings let, 1% within which is jom-naled a shaft 15 that corinects the rear wheels 19 12- whereby the body is supported from said wheels On the shaft 15 is secured a sprocket l6 and to the lower edge of the body 10" secnrei'l a bracket 17' carr ing pedal and sprocket mechanism 18',- the sprocket of which is coilnecte'd tosprocket l6by a chain 19', a propelling mechanism thus being provided that of conventional and well known type. 011 the body, in convenient relation to the pedal mechanism 18, is Se: cured the occupants seat 20, which latter also may be of conventional design.

Secured to the arins' 13,13, near their lower ends, are angle brackets 21', El, respectively, an'd'enteirdi'ngoyer portion ol the body 10 and diagonally downward and ll'irough said brackets is a rod 22 having nuts 23 threaded on its free ends bearing against the brackets whereby the arms iii, 13 may be sprung to more the shaft rearwardly with respect to the body to tighten the chain 19, and whereby a brace is provided to maintain the body rigid with respect to the shaft.

The front wheel 11 is disposed between a pair of spaced arms 24, 24: and is journaled on a shaft that connects said arms at their lower ends, said arms extending upwardly and preferably being inclined slightly towards the rear of the vehicle and at their upper ends being converged towards one another and having secured between them a downwardly extending lug 25 on a steering handle or wheel 26. Connecting said arms near their upper ends is a pair of relativelr spaced cross members 27, 27 through which lUU are formed alined openings 28, and, like wise, connecting said arms at a lower point is another pair of relatively spaced cross ets 32 and 33, each of which includes a pair of forward extensions 34, spaced relatively an amount equal to the spacement of the respective pairs of cross bars 27, 27 and 29,

29 and through which are formed alined openings 35.

The extensions 3 L are adapted to be disposed over the cross bars 27, 27 and 29, 29, respectively, with the openings in said cross bars and extensions alined to'receive pins or bolts 36 through the instrumentality of which the arms 24:, 24 are pivotally connected to the body, so that by means of the steering handle or wheel 26, the said arms may be rotated to swing the front wheelll at different angles with respect to the direction of travel of the vehicle whereby the latter may be steered.

The general construction of my improved toy as shown in the drawings and'as described herein permits theuse of a body of relatively thin, vertically disposed material,

" and the specific manner of forming the connection between the body and the front wheel 11- permits the same connection to be used for body portions of differentshapes, since the ends of the strap 31 may be bent to fit practically any shape'of body portion,

as is indicated by the variance in the shape of the body'portions of Figures 1 and 5.

I claim: w

1. In a toy vehicle, a body portion, arms secured attheir upper ends to said body 2. In a toy vehicle, a body portion, arms secured at their upper ends to said bodyportion and extending downwardly from the latter, a wheel shaft carried by said'arms, brackets secured to said arms near their lower ends, propelling mechanism for said vehicle including a sprocket on said shaft,

a sprocket on the body and a chain connecting said sprockets, a body brace extending over a portion of the body diagonally downward and through said brackets, and nuts threaded on the ends of said rod and bearing against said brackets whereby said rod may be placed in tension to spring the arms rearwardly with respect to the body to tighten said chain. v y

3. In a toy wheeled vehicle, a body portion, a strap the end portions of which are bendable to conform to the configuration of body portions of different shapes, spaced lateral extensions on the intermediate portion of said strap, a pair of arms between which a wheel of the vehicle is journaled,

cross membersconnecting said arms, and pintles engaged through said cross members and saidextensions to pivotally connect the arms with the body, so that the latter may be steered by turning said arms on said pintles. i p

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name. 7

WM. F. DATHAN. 

